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Yeah post it and I can tell. I haven't noticed any real issues with separating at a young age as long as they're eating reliably and well. I wouldn't do it personally, but the rats will probably be fine if you do get them.
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Aug 3, 2012 01:16
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| # ? May 15, 2024 06:59 |
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  so tenderThanks for your help, super, I really appreciate it.
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Aug 3, 2012 02:29
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The girls doing their gimme a treat dance.
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Aug 3, 2012 03:10
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redjenova posted:I just got an email with a picture of a pile of gross furless rat babies from the breeder I'm getting rats from are you from the dallas/ft worth area? i just got a picture of a pile of babies from my breeder too, on like the same day did! edit: i just saw your picture and it's the exact same as mine! we are getting rat siblings!!!! i've gotten a rat from this lady before, and he is pretty badass.
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Aug 3, 2012 07:01
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Oh awesome! I live several hours away in a neighboring state, but we have no breeders (I just found one, and it JUST closed!  ) in our state and I was determined to get breeder babies this time so I'd know more about 'em. That's awesome! I was wondering if someone might recognize the photo/breeder. I'm glad to hear good things 
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Aug 3, 2012 07:20
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redjenova posted:
Those should be about 4-6 days old in that picture. So it sounds like she's letting them go at 4ish weeks? That shouldn't be too bad. It's not really what I used to prefer to do but they should be fine at that age.
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Aug 3, 2012 11:28
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smallmouth posted:The girls doing their gimme a treat dance. Watched this for live five minutes. 
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Aug 3, 2012 15:25
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smallmouth posted:The girls doing their gimme a treat dance. More rat gifs please.
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Aug 4, 2012 04:06
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 These rats, best rats
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Aug 5, 2012 18:40
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Kerfuffle posted:More rat gifs please.  
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Aug 5, 2012 21:39
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Mordin has shown himself to be a little more clever than his brothers. The rats really like uncooked spelt pasta. The first few times I offered it to them, they each grabbed a piece and ran away to eat it. Then they came back, one at a time, for the next piece. Mordin has figured me out. Joker and Garrus will each take their piece of pasta and go to a corner to eat it. Mordin takes the first piece and runs behind the wheel to hide it, then comes back for another. He does this again and again. By the time the others have finished their first piece, Mordin has stockpiled ten or fifteen pieces of pasta. So far the others haven't located his stash. He'll keep doing it until I stop offering him more
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Aug 7, 2012 05:07
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I've noticed a distinct girth difference between my clever rat and her sister
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Aug 7, 2012 05:51
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Delta-Wye posted:I've noticed a distinct girth difference between my clever rat and her sister Mordin is also my most dedicated wheel runner, so I'm not too worried about him getting fat. He is starting to get a major case of wheel tail, but I don't think that's going to harm him in any way.
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Aug 7, 2012 05:54
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Got to pick out my babies today One's a black capped rat and a black berkshire. I cannot wait to bring them home.
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Aug 7, 2012 18:44
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I gave six rats a quick bath with kitten shampoo today. I have no idea what they got into but they smelled AWFUL. My arms are covered in tiny scratches. But at least they all smell good now.
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Aug 7, 2012 20:59
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^^ Seriously, water sharpens little rat nails^^ I am out on the couch with the bf and four rats. Angela and Liza both stick their heads out from under the quilt next to me and Angie leans over and gives Liza a couple licks on the head – no power grooming, just rat BFFs. And every time I try and enjoy a loving martini (or any drink, any drink at all) this happens:  RATS  edit: Folly, boozerat extraordinaire:  (I moved her away right after I took the picture. I do not get my rats drunk.) edit 2: Folly is also a Big Fat Goon as evidenced by her efforts to drag an old chip bag out of the backpack. Nice try, fatty. 
Invalid Octopus fucked around with this message at 03:42 on Aug 10, 2012 |
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Aug 10, 2012 03:32
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My rats are the same way. Lick lick lick either the lips or they attempt to lick the rim of the wine glass or whatever glass I happen to have.
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Aug 10, 2012 07:06
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Baika posted:My rats are the same way. Lick lick lick either the lips or they attempt to lick the rim of the wine glass or whatever glass I happen to have. I can't let Folly lick my lips. It will be lick lick lick for two seconds, and then she attempts to claw my mouth open.
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Aug 10, 2012 17:56
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I got to see a friend's rats while I was at her house. One was very interested in me/my camera  Every time I see rats it just makes me long for some even more.
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Aug 10, 2012 18:05
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How long til you get yours, Fraction?
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Aug 10, 2012 18:31
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Pretty much after I don't have mice anymore. Which, at the rate they're going, won't be long at all. I'd been thinking that it wouldn't be for another year or so, but who knows. I have the cage and some cage accessories already though.
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Aug 10, 2012 18:49
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I recently moved into a new apartment, and today I had the greatest idea! My dining room is my creature room and it is easily closed off with only two small doorways. Other than that the room has no holes or gaps anywhere, so the rats now get a ton of supervised free ranging time! Also, the floor is laminate, super easy clean up!
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Aug 11, 2012 00:01
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I'm getting rats! I had a rat in 4th grade that was the best rat ever. She was a classroom "experiment" where we had two rats and fed one milk and the other sugar water to see which one grew better. After the torture, I won the honor of taking her home. Her time in the classroom made her about the friendliest thing ever. My mom developed a severe allergy and just like that it's been 20 years since I've had a rat. I have a Martins cage on the way and am picking up these sisters on Sunday:  I'm so excited, but not nearly as excited as my daughter. She is only 4, so we will be doing a lot of supervised play. I read this entire thread, and though it is sad at times it has been super helpful to bring me up to speed on rat care. A lot has changed in 20 years!
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Aug 11, 2012 03:22
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 Yay for new ratties!! Can't wait to see lots of pics.
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Aug 11, 2012 03:33
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I just isolated one of my rats because she was being incredibly lethargic (as in I was poking her repeatedly and calling her name and she wouldn't respond). She's walking around and doesn't seem to be in pain, just very lethargic and clumsy, and her belly looks a bit swollen. I have to wait for my boyfriend to get home from work before I can take her to the vet, but before I go, does anyone know what it might be? I was thinking impacted colon because she seems to be constipated, but I'm not sure. She's about a year and a half old if that helps. She's also stretching her back legs and falling over a bunch. e: Vet didn't find anything and she's acting totally okay today False alarm.
Hardwood Floor fucked around with this message at 16:31 on Aug 12, 2012 |
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Aug 11, 2012 18:49
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I don't know if this works the same way on rats, but whenever one of my animals looks constipated I soak it in warm water and they usually have a bowel movement, just a little bit of advice for anyone who thinks they're animal is constipated.
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Aug 12, 2012 23:03
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I kept her isolated for about 5+ hours and she finally had a bowel movement. I'm just keeping an eye on her and feeding her a water + grain blend the vet suggested, but I'll try the warm water trick too if she keeps looking uncomfortable. The mix is flax, oat and water mixed with some veggies and the other rats are very jealous. It seems to be working, her belly already seems a lot less swollen. I'm just glad it wasn't a tumor or something
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Aug 12, 2012 23:10
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Woo hoo, got our babies! They are both very sweet and somewhat shy. We have them temporarily in a 20 gal until their cage comes Tuesday. Nibbler is this black berkshire (or thats what I think she is) And this is Oopsie:  If anyone can tell me what type/color she might be that would be great. I can't believe there are so many kinds of rat colors and markings. We just picked a black and a "white" one because they'd be simple to tell apart! Oopsie is a cream color and I think her eyes are "ruby." They are dark but you can see with the flash they are reddish. I am seriously resisting the urge to keep bothering them, but I figure it's been a stressful day for them so far.
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Aug 13, 2012 02:54
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HungryMedusa posted:
Beige
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Aug 13, 2012 03:11
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Thanks!
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Aug 13, 2012 03:16
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I've been thinking about adopting a rat! I was looking at my local ASPCA's webpage and they have 4 rats waiting to be adopted, 2 males and 2 females. The two females "sometimes aggravate each other" so they apparently don't have to be adopted together. The males are marked as being a little nippy so they'd prefer an experienced home. I haven't had rats before, but I have had gerbils and a rabbit. I'd like one of the females, I think, but would just one rat be fine? I know they're very social animals. But if the two females don't get along, I don't want to keep them in that situation. And I definitely don't want a mixed pair. I'm not really as interested in outright buying a rat from a pet store... I'd much rather adopt one from a shelter. Thoughts?
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Aug 13, 2012 18:33
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A mixed pair would be fine if you got the male neutered, by the way. I know some folks here keep mixed groups that way. It's hard to say what the best solution would be. It may be that one or the other of the females is just antisocial, and would be best kept alone - there are rats that just don't like other rats. Or it may be that these two particular females don't get on, so you could introduce another female to one of them and they would be buddies. I've never kept girls, so someone else can probably come in and speak more specifically to that situation.
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Aug 13, 2012 18:52
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Might just be that they weren't introduced well in the first place, and could potentially get along fine if reintroduced properly.
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Aug 13, 2012 19:12
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Is it possible for rats to get jealous? Pris, the older of the two and the one I've had for longest, acts jealous when I pet Zhora. When she notices, Pris will rush over and nuzzle and clean my hand. Either that or she just wants in on the grooming orgy? She's meticulously clean and spends most of her time cleaning herself, our hands, and Zhora.
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Aug 13, 2012 20:35
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smallmouth posted:Is it possible for rats to get jealous? Pris, the older of the two and the one I've had for longest, acts jealous when I pet Zhora. When she notices, Pris will rush over and nuzzle and clean my hand. Either that or she just wants in on the grooming orgy? She's meticulously clean and spends most of her time cleaning herself, our hands, and Zhora. Well, one of my cats gets jealous (meows and stares any time I pet the other cat, rats or hug my boyfriend), and my rats are arguably smarter than my cats so probably 
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Aug 13, 2012 23:52
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Driving down to get my rat babies on the 19th or the 20th. I cannot waaaait.
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Aug 16, 2012 02:35
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redjenova posted:Driving down to get my rat babies on the 19th or the 20th. I cannot waaaait. Getting ours (from the same litter) on Sunday!
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Aug 16, 2012 06:16
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The teeniest, most adorable goonmeet Ours are going into boarding at the vet for 10 days or so while we're out of town. Poor BF is going to be worried sick – but they'll be at our vet, so I'm not too worried. Gonna miss those little jerks though.
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Aug 16, 2012 07:11
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I know the pros and cons of buying from a pet shop vs buying from a breeder, but does anyone with PMs and experience mind having a quick chat about that? I have some questions 
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Aug 16, 2012 08:36
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| # ? May 15, 2024 06:59 |
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I don't have PMs, but I have owned breeder and pet shop rats - in the UK too, which is where I think you're from? I'm kind of torn about the whole thing, because I felt really good about getting my 'first' pair of rats (I previously had rats when I was a child, which I don't count) from a breeder, especially considering it was a massive hassle here in Scotland where there don't seem to be that many breeders and finding the active ones is even harder. Add in to that that the breeder I ended up with lived in the very north of Scotland whilst I reside in Edinburgh, the whole thing was a really huge effort. Both of my breeder rats died pretty young :\ Mishka, from a really severe growth/tumour on her reproductive tract which turned out to be inoperable and Evie shortly afterwards, from unknown causes - just found her dead one day. They were both around 18months old. After Mishka died I was left with my one old lady rat who was obviously quite lonely and depressed so rather than go through the invariably long process of trying to find some breeder/rescue babies, I caved and picked up a couple from the local lovely petshop. So far (had em about 4months now) they've had no health problems and have been incredibly friendly and were obviously quite well-handled. They were quite wheezy/respy when I got them, but it actually cleared up without treatment - I did take them to the vet but they were SO TINY when I got them she wanted to see if they'd get better on their own first, out of the pet shop environment. I guess we'll see how they do as they age, but honestly at this point I don't feel like I made a bad decision for my circumstances at the time, although I am loathe to support the pet shop trade. Also, the rats I had in childhood were both crappy pet shop rats and they both lived past 2years and died of what was apparently old age. So eh. If you do want any more information from me you can always email me - whistlekettle at gmail dot com.
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Aug 16, 2012 12:50
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